Sometimes all it takes to stay awake is a little stimulation.
Sometimes all it takes to stay awake is a little stimulation.
Twitter. It’s all the rage with news sources, celebrities, politicians, and millions of everyday folks getting in and playing around with it. The premise was simple: in 140 characters or less, answer a simple question that your followers and anyone who visits your page can see: “What are you doing?”
Since its creation, Twitter has both stayed the same and experienced evolutionary changes. The premise hasn’t changed, but what it means to people and how they use it have changed dramatically up until now. While more uses will certainly pop up, for now, everyone can be classified as having one or more of the following Twitter personalities.
These personalities and how we present them to the world define our uses and intentions on the Twittersphere. Whether we know it or not, these snippets of life that we cram into 140 characters say more about us as Tweeple than they say about us as people. For many, the distinction between the two is very thin.
The site asks, “What are you doing?” and that’s exactly what The Purist delivers. This is the point where many new users start. Many of them continue indefinitely, following the lines of the original intent of the site to truly microblog every aspect of their life, whether exciting or mundane.
The Clever Purist will answer the question just as stated. The difference between them and The Purist is that they put a spin on their tweets to make their actions more entertaining or interesting than they really are. These users can accumulate a strong following once they are noticed as other users see them as adding value a notch above others in their stream.
Any time you can take the mundane and throw a spin into it that makes people think, smile, laugh, or a combination of the three, you’re sure to be followed and retweeted often. The funny ones employ a Seinfeld-esque style of looking at nothing and making something out of it.
There are live journalists tweeting their findings to the world. There are citizen journalists breaking the news happening in front of them. There are bloggers posting more than just their posts; they post their thoughts on other issues and websites as well.
The Journalist is the Twitter personality that is getting almost as much attention as the celebrities joining twitter. It is as a collective more than as individuals that they are turning Twitter into the place to find and share what is happening in the world as it’s happening. Hundreds of stories have been written about the Twitter army being on the scene first at major events, tweeting pictures before camera crews at local television stations can find the keys to their van.
Unlike traditional journalism, the rulebook is thrown out the window with Twitter Journalism. Time is everything - breaking news breaks fast on Twitter, opinions can go stale and must be concise, and links fall to obscurity if nobody with a lot of followers tweets or retweets it. Twitter is changing the face of journalism more than any website in history.
Twitter is a doorway through which many celebrities are able to interact with fans, foes, and everyone in between in a direct yet safe manner. Most use it to thank their fans, promote their upcoming shows, discuss visiting a Los Angeles BMW dealer, and generally establish a constant public relations facade that humanizes them carefully and in a calculated way.
Others just don’t give a damn and they tweet whatever they want to tweet because they like to tweet.
One celebrity in particular does a tremendous job of being himself. Shaquille O’Neal, @the_real_shaq, is about as real as it gets, and thankfully for his fans and followers he’s a very entertaining guy, even when he “keeps it real”.
Instead of singling out other celebrities who tend to use Twitter as a PR/Marketing tool, we’ll take a peek at what makes Shaq real. He pleads with nobody in particular (possibly even himself) “Can I plaese cheat on my diet and got to dairy Queen pls pls pls”. A few minutes later, you see this image linked through a tweet:
Classic Shaq.
There are those who enjoy what they find on Twitter more than what they have to say themselves. The Link Mogul/Retweeter uses Twitter as a resource and they’re happy to share what they find with their own followers regardless of where they find it.
They retweet what they find on Twitter and tweet what they find off of Twitter.
In many ways, this personality type includes the people who keep the streams churning. Whether they’re looking for a Boston Used Nissan or the next musical protege, they links they post are important to people. They bring interesting finds to light, whether it’s a link or simply something interesting that someone else has said.
They retweet like crazy, selflessly bringing attention to other people’s content and other users accounts, not because they have ulterior motives or selfish goals but because they find good stuff and they want others to see it as well.
Without these users, many wonderful things on Twitter would never reach more than a few people.
Find links, find interesting tweets that others make, find interesting links that others tweet, and get it out to their portion of the Twittersphere. It’s that easy.
New users who do no longer want to be The Purist often migrate to a variation of this personality.
What is happening today? What will be happening tomorrow? What articles should we read? What videos should we watch? Who should we be following? What’s the next big thing?
For better or for worse, there are trendsetters and tastemakers in just about every aspect of Web 2.0. Twitter is no exception, and to accomodate the 140 characters or less aspect, the Tastemakers on Twitter have found 3 major avenues of using their influence to make changes, send traffic, and often even make the news.
The first question that gets asked at least a few times a week of people who are following tens, even hundreds of thousands of people is “how can you possibly keep up with all of those people?”
If asked under truth the influence of Sodium Pentothal, most would simply answer, “I don’t. I can’t. I try, but it’s too much.”
Still, there are a select few who DO try to keep up with their tremendous stream of tweets.
They DO reply to every @reply sent to them, every direct message thrown at them, and still somehow find the time to answer questions and offer help to those who don’t ask them directly.
They read their stream, find interesting points of conversation, and act upon them in some way.
They are Everyman’s friend.
They keep Twitter friendly and help new users get better.
This story doesn’t really need a synopsis or an introduction. It isn’t even really a story. At Uberly, they compiled a small but potent collection of images and a video that tells everything you need to know about volcanoes.
Most will go through life without ever seeing a volcano blow its top. This is unfortunate (at least from a distance) because they are awe-inspiring to observe, yet create a tension that falls under the same category as hurricanes and tornadoes. Three words definitely come to mind when watching a volcano erupt:
They are big.
They are bad.
They are Beautiful.
‘nuf said.
Then again, if a picture is worth a thousand words, then I guess post is over 10,000 words long. Luckily, it won’t take that long to digest it.
See all of the images on 1 page at Uberly by clicking on Volcano Images or go through each on its own page right here by clicking on…
When Nike+ launched two years ago, there were many skeptics. Other corporations have tried to create a strong social network for their users. The results have been horrendous for most, but Nike has been able to build their brand and establish strong avenues of interactions with their customers through this social network.
What did they do that Coke, General Motors, and several other large corporations did not do?
First, they gave the platform connectivity and interactivity. Using a device within the running shoes themselves, members can track every run they do and keep accurate records of how well they are doing. This in itself has an appeal to those who are serious about running, but Nike+ took it a step further by allowing users to communicate with other runners around the globe. The mutual interest that can often be called a passion gave the network the “legs” to bring people in and keep them coming back.
The second thing they did was give purpose to the network. Through events that could only be coordinated online do to logistical challenges of multiple-locations worldwide, Nike+ made itself into a hub for runners to participate with distant peers towards common goals. Earlier this year, nearly a million users logged on and signed up to run a 10K race. It was sponsored by Nike simultaneously in 25 cities.
In a recent interview that Businessweek’s Jay Greene had with Stefan Olander, global director of Nike consumer connections, the enthusiasm for the products and network were evicent. Skeptics were harsh when the network first started, but its success in accumulating active users has made most silence their criticisms.
But in the end, the real question is, “Has Nike+ helped the company sell more running shoes?”
“Absolutely, yes,” said Olander. “We’ve seen great conversions so what we do in our continuous service is we see the relative market share that we gain from other brands and it gives us a tremendous opportunity. If someone is used to running in another brand and they like another brand, once you start using Nike+ you have a really good reason to try out Nike’s line of shoes.
“We like to think we have a fantastic running shoe line but a lot of that is just what you’re used to so if someone is used to another brand the only reason could be communication. Another reason is the community and you have another reason to try it out.”
While sales of related products have hit $56 million, it is a drop in the bucket for a company that posted $18.63 billion in sales in fiscal 2008. For a real impact that would raise the eyebrows of other corporations, there would need to be a bigger splash that crossed several products, not just the running shoe niche that appeals mostly to hard-core users.
“I am convinced that the learnings we’ve drawn from what Plus does from a behavioral perspective - absolutely we’ll be to use that and replicate it,” Olander continued. “I don’t think that it necessarily means always using the same technological solution with a chip in your shoe and a receiver but the insight that you can use digital technology to enhance someone’s performance and make sure that there is both a community angle of it and all the social attraction - all those layers we can definitely use in other categories.”
The Real Reason(s) Gary Coleman Went Postal
Posted On: February 1, 2010
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If only all testimonial videos were as enjoyable.
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